Life in the suburbs of Fayetteville is not necessarily what it seems to be.  For the Myles family, their seemingly perfect life is about to be turned upside down.  Jefferson and Margo have a marriage that has lasted a quarter century, four grown, adoring children, thriving careers, and a cozy house in a nice, friendly neighborhood.  To Margo’s horror, she discovers that Jefferson has embezzled some of his clients’ funds and is heavily involved in the dangerous “Operation Stingray.”   This criminal organization is stealing ammunition from Fort Bragg to sell to Honduran rebels (all with the help of insiders and dirty cops).  Jefferson’s mistakes have put his family and friends in peril.  As if that’s not enough, Jefferson is having a steamy affair with the next-door neighbor, Linda–whose husband has just been murdered.  Margo must find the strength to protect her family while searching for a way to cope with her husband’s destructive misdeeds.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

Posted: November 10th, 2009 under 2000-, 2006, Coastal Plain, Cumberland, Perkins, Suzetta, Suspense/Thriller.
Comments: none

People who have been in this area for some time will be delighted to see that Alexandra Sokoloff is bringing the work of J. B. and Louisa Rhine to the attention of a new generation.  From the 1920s to 1965, the Rhine parapsychology research lab at Duke University added the spice of parapsychology to the local intellectual scene.  The Rhines investigated ESP, psychokinesis, and poltergeists.  In The Unseen, Laurel MacDonald has left heartbreak in California and moved east to join the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience at Duke University.  Professor MacDonald’s area of research involves Myers-Briggs typology, but when a library exhibit rekindles her interest in the work of the Rhines, she moves out of her safety zone in more than one sense.  She and a handsome co-worker enlist two exceptional students to help duplicate earlier investigations of poltergeists.  The four move to Folger House, an estate in Moore County and the site of poltergeist manifestations decades before. The tensions and suspicions among the researchers are nothing compared to what they encounter at Folger House.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

Posted: September 29th, 2009 under 2000-, 2009, Coastal Plain, Durham, Moore, Piedmont, Sokoloff, Alexandra, Suspense/Thriller.
Comments: none

Victoria Porter has a knack for always finding her way into an undesirable situation.  In fact she yearns for them.  Being a maiden at twenty-three in 1746, Victoria has given up on finding a suitable mate and now searches for any man willing to cure her boredom.  During an escapade with a drunken sailor Victoria’s older brother, Jeremiah, dies from a bullet to the back as he tries to prevent Victoria from defiling her honor.  Victoria finds herself alone and suicidal from guilt until Jeremiah’s ghost comes to save her yet again. With Jeremiah’s guidance she begins a quest to find their missing brother. Victoria soon finds herself washed up on a shore after being thrown from a ship during a terrible storm.  Alone and frightened once again, she is rescued by a mysterious man with demons of his own and from a time that is not hers.

Colt MacKenzie is desperate to write another bestselling horror novel in 2007.  He heads to Ocracoke Island in search of his newest topic: The Cult of Teach.  While Colt immerses himself in the legend of The Cult and its obsession over Blackbeard’s Chalice, he comes to the rescue of a strange woman who soon turns his world upside down.

Through the chalice Victoria and Colt discover that their destinies are intertwined and the couple is inevitably thrown into the world of The Cult.  At all costs Victoria and Colt must protect the chalice and reunite it with its rightful owner.  This is the only way to protect themselves and their destinies.

The Cult is the second book in Maddie James’ series The Legend of Blackbeard’s Chalice.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

Posted: September 14th, 2009 under 2000-, 2008, Coast, Hyde, James, Maddie, Mystery, Novels in Series, Romance/Relationship, Suspense/Thriller.
Comments: none

The Curse is the first book in Maddie James’ series The Legend of Blackbeard’s Chalice.  The story begins in 1718 with Jack Porter in the mist of a mission to retrieve his wife, recently stolen by the pirate Edward Teach (Blackbeard).  Jack successfully fights off Blackbeard and escapes with his wife, Hannah.  His happiness is short-lived; Hannah dies a few days later in Jack’s arms.

Fast forward 300 years to Claire Winslow enjoying a quite, secluded vacation on Ocracoke Island.  When Claire is visited by a mysterious, intoxicating man this vacation quickly turns into an adventure she never expected.  Claire finds herself inexplicably obsessed with her nightly visitor and begins to question whether he is real or fantasy.  Eventually she realizes that her phantom lover is really her husband from a lifetime past, Jack Porter. Thus Claire and Jack embark on a destiny-altering, time-traveling journey to find a chalice constructed of Blackbeard’s skull.  The chalice is their only way of ending the curse leveled by Blackbeard that threatens to keep them apart for eternity.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

Posted: September 14th, 2009 under 2000-, 2007, Coast, Historical, Hyde, James, Maddie, Mystery, Novels in Series, Romance/Relationship, Suspense/Thriller.
Comments: none

Thirteen-year-old Johnny Merrimon refuses to believe that his twin sister is dead. After his sister’s disappearance, Johnny’s father left the family and his mother succumbed to drug and alcohol addictions. Now, a year after Alyssa’s disappearance and the crumbling of his perfect world, Johnny decides to take matters into his own hands and begins a personal search for his lost sister.   Detective Clyde Hunt shares in Johnny’s obsession over the missing Alyssa and keeps a protective, watchful eye on Johnny as he embarks on this treacherous exploration.   Through his search Johnny uncovers a disturbing side to his small hometown; news of a second missing young girl propels Johnny down an even more dangerous path.  This path brings new, life threatening revelations for Johnny; revelations that are felt throughout the town.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

Posted: August 20th, 2009 under 2000-, 2009, Hart, John, Mystery, Suspense/Thriller.
Comments: none

Beware the handsome stranger.  On a winter night a good looking young man shows up in a small North Carolina town.  He has a winning manner, but when bad things begin to happen in the town, some come to suspect he has brought evil with him. The author takes readers into the mind of a man warped by his performances in a huckster’s revival shows. It’s a hellish place.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

Posted: August 13th, 2009 under 1960-1969, 1961, Coastal Plain, Novels Set in Fictional Places, Suspense/Thriller, Wicker, Tom.
Comments: none

Cam Richter doesn’t like the way subdivisions are springing up around his place in Summerfield, North Carolina, so he decides to buy an antebellum plantation in Rockwell County.  The change of scene doesn’t protect Cam from a stalker who’s taking shots at Cam no matter where he is. Rockwell County has it own dangers. It seems that Cam’s land was the site of a massacre late in the Civil War, a massacre that may or may not have something to do with the eccentric family who lives across the road from Cam’s house.  As Cam and his faithful German shepherds explore the features of his land–an abandoned mine, a cemetery, an old railroad bridge–the body count starts to rise, and the novel builds to a dramatic conclusion. This is the fourth Cam Richter novel.  The fictional setting bears similarities to Rockingham County.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

Posted: August 6th, 2009 under 2000-, 2009, Deutermann, Peter T., Novels in Series, Piedmont, Rockingham, Suspense/Thriller.
Comments: none

Lots of people drive down I-95 on their way to Florida and for most it’s an uneventful trip.  Not for Chris Sandige, a political operative from Washington, D.C.  Chris swerves to avoid a dog, looses control of his car, and finds himself marooned in Lumberton for a weekend.  It could have been a quiet weekend, but Chris makes the mistake of inviting a pretty and mysterious woman to join him at dinner. While Chris is enjoying dinner, the sheriff’s department is investigating the murder of a local banker and his wife.  The two threads of the story come together in the person of the lady, as Chris is drawn into a web of oil profiteering, money laundering, and political corruption.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

Posted: August 4th, 2009 under 2000-, 2008, Coastal Plain, Robeson, Suspense/Thriller, Terrell, P. M..
Comments: none

A few years ago Blair Mallory divorced her cheating, wanna-be-politician husband and spent her settlement money on opening a classy gym in Western North Carolina. It was a pretty good existence (if a bit bland), but after she witnesses the murder of one of the gym’s clients in the parking lot, things get a lot more interesting. There is a chance that the killer was actually after her, a possibility that is supported by other threats against her life. The cop in charge of the investigation, a man she dated briefly and is still attracted to, spices up the story. While most of the novel takes place in Blair’s unnamed N.C. hometown, it does take a detour to Wrightsville Beach, where Blair tries to escape from the stress of the murder investigation by embracing her inner beach-bunny.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

Posted: June 17th, 2009 under 2000-, 2005, Coast, Howard, Linda, Mountains, New Hanover, Romance/Relationship, Suspense/Thriller.
Comments: none

While Tyler Vance is in the drive-through for his local bank one day, a fleeing bank robber points a gun at him and demands he hand over his truck.  In that instant, Vance’s unique, deadly, and very secret military training takes over.  He shoots and kills the robber, not knowing that the dead man has some “family” ties to international drug dealers, gun runners, and racketeers.  Tyler’s life as a freelance writer, recent widower, and single father quickly turns dangerous as the mobster’s connections try to exact vengeance upon him.  He turns to friends, family, and old army connections for help surviving the attacks and keeping his son safe.  Author Clay Harvey, like main character Vance, lives in North Carolina and writes articles and books about guns.  A Flash of Red is the first book in Harvey’s series about Vance.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

Posted: May 28th, 2009 under 1990-1999, 1996, Harvey, Clay, Mecklenburg, Piedmont, Romance/Relationship, Suspense/Thriller.
Comments: none